This is dire: (please read)

Friend, one more thing about the shocking layoffs hitting media outlets: Daily Kos came very close to making layoffs a few years ago. It was 2013. Daily Kos' traffic broke records during the 2012 election, and we continued to do well in the new year. This was good news because, at the time, Daily Kos was sustained almost entirely by ad revenue. Google is an extremely powerful company that controls almost all facets of the advertising industry, from the buying and selling of ads to the display of them to readers like you. They also own the most popular web browser, mobile operating system, email service, website measurement software, and of course search. Much of Daily Kos relies Google's products. So when advertisers want to reach progressive activists like you they no longer come directly to us, they frequently go to Google. And you know what? Google can reach you on Daily Kos and almost any other website you visit. That scale allows them to sell ads for much cheaper than we and other media companies can charge and the prices just keep going down as the amount of places Google can place ads exponentially increases. So even though we gained a lot of readers and served many more ads, Google paid us less as their revenue grew. We struggled to make payroll. But before we laid anyone off, we did something we'd never done before: We turned to you, our readers. And holy cow, you all came through. Daily Kos wouldn't be the place it is today without you, for real. Readers like you helped us through some dark times, and more. You helped us grow into the progressive powerhouse we are today. [Contributions from readers like you make more than a third of our revenue today. In short, Daily Kos literally could not do the work we do with you. So please chip in $5 today to support independent, progressive media.]( Thank you, Will Rockafellow President, Daily Kos --------------------------------------------------------------- MARKOS' EMAIL: Friend, the situation has gotten even worse. Business Insider is now reporting that the number of media layoffs has reached [2,900 so far this year](. That's 2,900 reporters, fact-checkers, editors, and support staff who were working to investigate, write, report, explain and share the news. This is a scary thing. Scarier still that it's happening now, with a wannabe dictator in the White House pushing conspiracy theories and attacking facts as "fake news." [Daily Kos is an essential news source. We're a progressive, independent site free of corporate and big money influence because we rely on readers like you to help make ends meet, and we're facing the same industry pressures as other outlets. Please chip in $5 a month to support our work if you haven't already.]( [Can't contribute monthly? Please click here to chip in $5 one time.]( Traditional media outlets have been shrinking for years with the growth of the internet—that's not the big news here. The alarming thing about this year's layoffs is the increase in how fast it's happening—5,000 media jobs were lost between 2014 and 2017, and right now the country is on track to lose more than that this year alone. And it's not just traditional media outlets taking the hits anymore. Digital outlets are shrinking now too, as tech giants Facebook and Google gobble up ad dollars that used to fund operations for online outlets. Daily Kos isn't immune to the industry pressures that have forced digital publications to shed staff. We've been feeling it for a while now. The only reason we're not in the same spot as some other outlets is that we have you. More than one-third of Daily Kos revenue comes from readers like you—people chipping in just a few bucks at a time to keep Daily Kos up and running. It's amazing. [Daily Kos has fallen slightly behind our goals for the year, but we can catch up with your help. If you want to see more independent, progressive media and not less, click here to start a $5 recurring monthly donation help Daily Kos keep fighting.]( [Or, if you can't chip in monthly, please click here to chip in $5 one time.]( Thank you, Markos Moulitsas Founder and Publisher, Daily Kos If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Daily Kos, please [click here](.